Asked if he prefers being called by his own name or as Athiya's father, he replied: "Athiya Shetty's father! That's what every parent wishes... to be known by their children's name."
A proud father, Suniel believes Athiya is a natural when it comes to her acting. He is happy that she is "extremely confident, she's looking good, and that she's acted well".
"That is the biggest compliment for a father...I wish that she'll do good work so that she continues to receive good work," he said and added that while "several critics have panned her film but there has been immense praise for Sooraj (Pancholi) and Athiya".
Suniel agrees box office collections matter a lot, but he feels people should have realistic expectations from a movie starring debutants, even if it has Salman Khan as its producer.
"This is a Salman Khan production and not a Salman Khan starrer. People are expecting Rs.200 crore to Rs.300 crore, but they are just kids. I think they'll manage to earn around Rs.50 crore."
His advice to his daughter was "that there would be several critics who have an agenda of saying bad about the kids and the film".
He told them: "This criticism would give you further strength to be stronger for the next. Consider this criticism as a lesson and think about how you can work on it and implement the suggestions."
Suniel is glad that "that's what Athiya's been doing".
